


Not Deaf

by JayTyHeyBye



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mute!keith, Panic Attacks, Prom, Tumblr Prompt, mute character, speaking attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-25 19:11:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9840140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTyHeyBye/pseuds/JayTyHeyBye
Summary: “Hey!” He was almost yelling now. Keith paused in his movements, turning to look at him. “Are you deaf?”Keith frowned, and Lance felt a pang of guilt. Keith quickly fumbled with his hands in Shiro’s direction, then stood and left the cafeteria before Shiro had the chance to respond.-----Also known as the one where Keith is Mute and Lance is trying his hardest here





	1. Chapter 1

Lance was sitting at their regular table at lunch, with Hunk and Pidge across from him as per usual. He was telling them about the latest episode of Doctor Who he had watched, and they listened with open ears. None of them hadn’t even noticed that Shiro wasn’t with them as per usual. Sometimes he would leave to go sit with his girlfriend, Allura, but he normally sat with them on Wednesdays. 

So when Shiro cleared his throat to stop Lance in the middle of his rant, he spun around to tell him off for not only being late, but cutting him off. He quickly stopped himself when he saw Shiro wasn’t alone. There was a boy standing beside him with a black mullet, a red jacket, and fingerless gloves. Lance already didn’t like this kid, but he ignored him.

“What the hell, Shiro? You’re late!”

Shiro smiled apologetically. He was a year older than everyone, other than Pidge, who was a freshman. Shiro was the senior, but so was Allura whenever she decided to hang out with them. 

“I’m sorry. I had to show Keith around.” Shiro gave Keith a smile, who hesitantly returned it, “Can we sit?”

Just as Lance opened his mouth to protest, Pidge smiled.

“Of course.” They scooted over, and Keith took the seat beside them, “It’s nice to meet you Keith.” 

Keith paused, before bringing his hand to his chin, and pulling it out, then down. Pidge’s face seemed to light up. Their hands began to move faster than Lance had ever seen them move, and Keith was beginning to grin, returning the gestures.

Was this some weird secret handshake? 

“What are you two doing?” He asked slowly, and Pidge glanced at him, only for a second.

“Signing!”

“That’s weird.” He mumbled, before ‘getting’ it. He raised his voice, grinning. “Hey!” He was almost yelling now. Keith paused in his movements, turning to look at him. “Are you deaf?”

Keith frowned, and Lance felt a pang of guilt. Keith quickly fumbled with his hands in Shiro’s direction, then stood and left the cafeteria before Shiro had the chance to respond. Shiro was frowning, before he turned to Lance.

“What was that, Lance?”

“He-he was doing that signing thing that deaf people do!” Lance spluttered, his eyes widening.

Shiro sighed, dragging a hand across his face. 

“He’s not deaf, Lance, he’s mute. He doesn’t communicate verbally.”

“How do you-”

“He’s my adopted brother, and he arrived a couple of months ago from Korea. My mom wanted me to show him around today, because she thinks it's a good time for him to start public school again.” Shiro stood up, turning as though he was about to leave. Lance frowned, clambering to his feet. 

“How are we supposed to talk to him, then?”

“Learn sign language, Lance, or just don’t talk at all.” Shiro muttered, before leaving to go find Keith.

Lance literally took out every book on Sign Language the public library, AND the school library had. He was going to learn sign language if it killed him, dammit.

 

It took over two months. Two months to learn the entire language, or most of it anyway. It was enough to talk to Keith!

He found the boy at his locker before school had actually started, and he was already grinning. He hadn’t realized he’d run over to Keith until he was standing right beside him, hands clasped in front of him.

“Keith!”

The other boy jumped, turning to look at Lance, eyebrows raised. However, when he realized it was Lance, he scowled and went back to digging through his locker. Lance swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Keith, I want to talk to you.” 

Keith let out a huff, his body freezing up. He grabbed a pen from his locker and opened his notebook, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. He proceeded to rip it out and hand it to Lance, who quickly read it over.

_What do you want?_

Lance took a deep breath, crumpling up the paper so he could put it in his pockets. He had to stop in between each word, but he managed.

_I...Learn...Sign...Language!_

When his hands dropped, Lance noticed that Keith almost looked impressed. His eyes were wide, and he was simply staring at Lance. 

He replied, but made his usual movements slower, so Lance could understand them.

_You did that for me?_

Lance began to nod, grinning.

“Yeah, totally! I wanna be able to talk to you.”

Keith smiled genuinely, closing his locker.

_Walk me to my first class?_

It took Lance a moment before he smiled and gave another quick nod. 

It was choppy, but it was a start.


	2. Prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance’s hands won’t stop fucking shaking and it was driving the kid up the god damn wall. He needed alcohol. Maybe he’d be lucky enough that someone would spike the punch. Wait, why hadn’t he just brought alcohol to spike the punch? Dammit. He felt stupid.   
>  He was standing off to the sidelines, leaning against a conveniently placed pole where he could see everyone dancing quite perfectly.   
>  Hunk had brought Shay, whom he hadn’t left alone all night. Shiro was slow dancing with Allura, despite the song being quite fast paced. Even Pidge was dancing with their brother. That left Lance alone. With his non alcoholic punch. He took a slow sip and frowned. Definitely needed vodka.   
>  When he felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt, he turned to see Keith standing next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wHOOPS LMAO PART 2

Lance’s hands won’t stop fucking shaking and it was driving the kid up the god damn wall. He needed alcohol. Maybe he’d be lucky enough that someone would spike the punch. Wait, why hadn’t he just brought alcohol to spike the punch? Dammit. He felt stupid. 

He was standing off to the sidelines, leaning against a conveniently placed pole where he could see everyone dancing quite perfectly. 

Hunk had brought Shay, whom he hadn’t left alone all night. Shiro was slow dancing with Allura, despite the song being quite fast paced. Even Pidge was dancing with their brother. That left Lance alone. With his non alcoholic punch. He took a slow sip and frowned. Definitely needed vodka. 

When he felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt, he turned to see Keith standing next to him.

Despite not going together, the pair had coordinated outfits. Their entire group had, actually. Keith wore a red button up, Lance wore a blue one, Pidge wore a green one, Shiro wore a white one, and Hunk wore a yellow one. They then all wore black vests and black dress pants. They were the perfect team. Lance swore he saw one of the cheerleaders swoon when they first walked in the door.

Keith, however, had unbuttoned his vest. His hair was messy again, and his eyes were full of something. Anger? no. Thank God. Fear? Lance’s stomach sank. What did Keith have to be scared of at prom? A girl grinding up against him for no apparent reason? 

The other boy shuffled uncomfortably, frantic eyes darting around the room. He lifted his hands and fumbled with them for a moment, having to repeat himself multiple times before Lance figured out what he was trying to say.

_It’s too loud_

Lance couldn’t help himself. He had to do something. He grabbed Keith’s hand and somehow managed to drag the other teenager out of the auditorium. Almost immediately when they were alone, Keith seemed to relax. Lance beamed. He normally would have made a joke about saving the day, but he doubted Keith would enjoy it right now.

“Better?”

He gave a slow nod, wringing his hands together as he took a slow breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. Lance clapped him on the back, and Keith couldn’t help but smile. 

“Y’know, we can still kind of hear the music.” Lance hummed, and Keith raised his eyebrows, as if responding with _So What?_

Lance smirked, elbowing Keith in the ribs before he pulled him against his chest, arms wrapping around his waist.

“So, that means we should dance.”

Keith went as red as his shirt. Hesitantly, however, he wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck, and Lance began to slowly sway them to the tune of the music. Okay. Now he understood why Shiro and Allura slow danced to literally every song. This was nice.

Keith seemed to think so too, because Lance finally realized how Keith’s head was resting on his shoulder. Lance quite literally had to stop himself from squealing in excitement.

“Keith?” 

There was a quiet grunt in response.

“Will you be my official prom date?” 

Lance could have sworn he heard Keith give a breathy laugh, before the other boy nodded.

They fell silent again, until Lance heard Keith suck in a sharp breath. They pulled away, and met eyes. Keith looked nervous.   
He opened his mouth.

Lance’s eyes widened.

“W-Will….yo-you re-real-really go o-out...wi-with...me, L-La-Lance?” 

His voice was soft, but choppy. Keith was shaking, probably from nerves, and Lance stopped their swaying to pull his friend into a tight hug, somehow managing to spin them around. Keith had begun to laugh, and Lance put him down, releasing his grip on Keith’s hip in order to place his hands onto pale cheeks.

“Yes, mullet-head. A million times yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to follow my tumblr! @Subject-to-feels


End file.
